PULSED GROWTH OF CATALYST-FREE GROWTH OF GaN NANOWIRES AND APPLICATION IN GROUP III NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR BULK MATERIAL

ABSTRACT

Exemplary embodiments provide semiconductor devices including high-quality (i.e., defect free) group III-N nanowires and uniform group III-N nanowire arrays as well as their scalable processes for manufacturing, where the position, orientation, cross-sectional features, length and the crystallinity of each nanowire can be precisely controlled. A pulsed growth mode can be used to fabricate the disclosed group III-N nanowires and/or nanowire arrays providing a uniform length of about 10 nm to about 1000 microns with constant cross-sectional features including an exemplary diameter of about 10-1000 nm. In addition, high-quality GaN substrate structures can be formed by coalescing the plurality of GaN nanowires and/or nanowire arrays to facilitate the fabrication of visible LEDs and lasers. Furthermore, core-shell nanowire/MQW active structures can be formed by a core-shell growth on the nonpolar sidewalls of each nanowire.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/684,264filed on Mar. 9, 2007, which claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Applications Ser. No. 60/780,833, filed Mar. 10, 2006, Ser. No.60/798,337, filed May 8, 2006, Ser. No. 60/808,153, filed May 25, 2006,and Ser. No. 60/889,363, filed Feb. 12, 2007, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

This invention was made with government support under Contract No.HR0011-05-1-0006 awarded by the Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency/Army Research Office, and Contract No. F49620-03-1-0013 andContract No. FA9550-06-1-0001 awarded by the Air Force Office ofScientific Research. The government has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to semiconductor materials, devices,and methods for their manufacture and, more particularly, relates tosemiconductor nanowires and semiconductor nanowire active devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nanowires composed of group III-N alloys (e.g., GaN) provide thepotential for new semiconductor device configurations such as nanoscaleoptoelectronic devices. For example, GaN nanowires can provide largebandgap, high melting point, and chemical stability that is useful fordevices operating in corrosive or high-temperature environments. Thelarger bandgap of GaN and its related alloys also allows the fabricationof light sources in the visible range that are useful for displays andlighting applications. In addition, the unique geometry of each nanowireoffers the potential to explore new device paradigms in photonics and intransport devices. To fully realize this potential, a scalable processis needed for making high-quality group III-N nanowires and/or nanowirearrays with precise and uniform control of the geometry, position andcrystallinity of each nanowire.

Conventional nanowire fabrication is based on a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS)growth mechanism and involves the use of catalysts such as Au, Ni, Fe,or In. Problems arise, however, because these conventional catalyticprocesses cannot control the position and uniformity of the resultingnanowires. A further problem with conventional catalytic processes isthat the catalyst is inevitably incorporated into the nanowires Thisdegrades the crystalline quality of the resulting nanostructures, whichlimits their applications.

Thus, there is a need to overcome these and other problems of the priorart and to provide high-quality nanowires and/or nanowire arrays, andscalable methods for their manufacturing. It is further desirable toprovide nanowire photoelectronic devices and their manufacturing basedon the high-quality nanowires and/or nanowire arrays.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to various embodiments, the present teachings include a methodof making nanowires. In the method, a selective growth mask can beformed over a substrate. The selective growth mask can include aplurality of patterned apertures that expose a plurality of portions ofthe substrate. A semiconductor material can then be grown on each of theplurality of portions of the substrate exposed in each of the patternedapertures using a selective non-pulsed growth mode. The growth mode canbe transitioned from the non-pulsed growth mode to a pulsed growth mode.By continuing the pulsed growth mode of the semiconductor material, aplurality of semiconductor nanowires can be formed.

According to various embodiments, the present teachings also include agroup III-N nanowire array, which can include a selective growth maskdisposed over a substrate. The selective growth mask can include aplurality of patterned apertures that expose a plurality of portions ofthe substrate. A group III-N nanowire can be connected to and extendfrom the exposed plurality of portions of the substrate and extend overa top of the selective growth mask. The group III-N nanowire can beoriented along a single direction and can maintain a cross-sectionalfeature of one of the plurality of selected surface regions.

According to various embodiments, the present teachings further includea GaN substrate structure. The GaN substrate structure can be a GaN filmcoalesced from a plurality of GaN nanowires, which is defect free. TheGaN film can have a defect density of about 10⁷ cm⁻² or lower.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained bymeans of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIGS. 1A-1C depict cross-sectional views of an exemplary semiconductornanowire device at various stages of fabrication in accordance with thepresent teachings.

FIG. 2 depicts a second exemplary semiconductor nanowire device inaccordance with the present teachings.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary process for forming a plurality of nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays using a two-phase growth mode in accordance withthe present teachings.

FIGS. 4A-4C depict a third exemplary semiconductor nanowire device inaccordance with the present teachings.

FIG. 5 depicts a forth exemplary semiconductor nanowire device inaccordance with the present teachings.

FIGS. 6A-6D depict exemplary results for a plurality of ordered GaNnanowire arrays grown by the two-phase growth mode without use of acatalyst in accordance with the present teachings.

FIGS. 7A-7D depict four exemplary variants of semiconductor devicesincluding GaN substrate structures formed from the plurality ofnanowires and/or nanowire arrays shown in FIGS. 1-6 in accordance withthe present teachings.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary core-shell nanowire/MQW (multiple quantumwell) active structure device in accordance with the present teachings.

FIG. 9 depicts another exemplary core-shell nanowire/MQW activestructure device in accordance with the present teachings.

FIGS. 10A-10C depict an exemplary nanowire LED device formed using thecore-shell nanowire/MQW active structure described in FIGS. 8-9 inaccordance with the present teachings.

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary nanowire laser device using the core-shellnanowire/MQW active structure described in FIGS. 8-9 in accordance withthe present teachings.

FIG. 12 depicts another exemplary nanowire laser device using thecore-shell nanowire/MQW active structure described in FIGS. 8-9 inaccordance with the present teachings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. In thefollowing description, reference is made to the accompanying drawingsthat form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustrationspecific exemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced.These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention. The followingdescription is, therefore, merely exemplary.

While the invention has been illustrated with respect to one or moreimplementations, alterations and/or modifications can be made to theillustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims. In addition, while a particular feature of theinvention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular function. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variantsthereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, suchterms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising.” The term “at least one of” is used to mean one or more ofthe listed items can be selected.

Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forththe broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numericalvalues set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely aspossible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certainerrors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in theirrespective testing measurements. Moreover, all ranges disclosed hereinare to be understood to encompass any and all sub-ranges subsumedtherein. For example, a range of “less than 10” can include any and allsub-ranges between (and including) the minimum value of zero and themaximum value of 10, that is, any and all sub-ranges having a minimumvalue of equal to or greater than zero and a maximum value of equal toor less than 10, e.g., 1 to 5.

Exemplary embodiments provide semiconductor devices includinghigh-quality (i.e., defect free) group III-N nanowires and uniform groupIII-N nanowire arrays as well as scalable processes for theirmanufacturing, where the position, orientation, cross-sectionalfeatures, length and/or the crystallinity of each nanowire can beprecisely controlled. Specifically, a plurality of nanowires and/ornanowire arrays can be formed using a selective growth mode followed bya growth-mode-transition from the selective growth mode to a pulsedgrowth mode. The cross-sectional features, for example, thecross-sectional dimensions (e.g., diameter or width), and thecross-sectional shapes, of each nanowire obtained from the selectivegrowth mode can be maintained by continuing the growth using the pulsedgrowth mode. In this manner, nanowires with a high aspect ratio can beformed. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of each nanowire can be,for example, about 10 nm to about 1000 microns, for example about 10 nmto about 100 microns.

In addition, high-quality group III-N films, for example, high-qualityGaN films, can be formed by terminating and coalescing the plurality ofnanowires and/or nanowire arrays. These GaN films can be used as GaNsubstrate structures to facilitate the fabrication of GaN-based devicessuch as visible LEDs and lasers for the emerging solid-state lightingand UV sensor industries.

Furthermore, because each of the pulsed-grown nanowires and/or nanowirearrays can provide nonpolar sidewalls, there are advantages in using acore-shell growth to build an MQW active shell structure on thesidewalls of each nanowire. Such core-shell nanowire/MQW activestructures can be used in nanoscale photoelectronic devices having highefficiencies, such as, for example, nanowire LEDs and/or nanowirelasers.

As used herein, the term “nanowire” generally refers to any elongatedconductive or semiconductive material that includes at least one minordimension, for example, one of the cross-sectional dimensions such aswidth or diameter, of less than or equal to about 1000 nm. In variousembodiments, the minor dimension can be less than about 100 nm. Invarious other embodiments, the minor dimension can be less than about 10nm. The nanowires can have an aspect ratio (e.g., length: width and/ormajor dimension: minor dimension) of about 100 or greater. In variousembodiments, the aspect ratio can be about 200 or greater. In variousother embodiments, the aspect ratio can be about 2000 or greater. In anexemplary embodiment, the cross-section of the nanowire can be highlyasymmetric such that in one direction of the cross-sectional dimensioncan be much less than 1000 nm and in an orthogonal direction thedimension can be substantially greater than 1000 nm.

It is also intended that the term “nanowires” also encompass otherelongated structures of like dimensions including, but not limited to,nanoshafts, nanopillars, nanoneedles, nanorods, and nanotubes (e.g.,single wall nanotubes, or multiwall nanotubes), and their variousfunctionalized and derivatized fibril forms, such as nanofibers in theform of thread, yarn, fabrics, etc.

The nanowires can have various cross-sectional shapes, such as, forexample, rectangular, polygonal, square, oval, or circular shape.Accordingly, the nanowires can have cylindrical and/or cone-like threedimensional (3-D) shapes. In various embodiments, a plurality ofnanowires can be, for example, substantially parallel, arcuate,sinusoidal, etc., with respect to each other.

The nanowires can be formed on/from a support, which can includeselected surface regions where the nanowires can be connected to andextend (e.g., be grown) from. The support of the nanowires can alsoinclude a substrate formed from a variety of materials including Si,SiC, sapphire, III-V semiconductor compounds such as GaN or GaAs,metals, ceramics or glass. The support of the nanowires can also includea selective growth mask formed on the substrate. In various embodiments,the support of the nanowires can further include a buffer layer disposedbetween the selective growth mask and the substrate.

In various embodiments, nanowire active devices, for example, nanowireLEDs or nanowire lasers, can be formed using the nanowires and/ornanowire arrays. In various embodiments, the nanowires and/or nanowirearrays and the nanowire active devices can be formed using a III-Vcompound semiconductor materials system, for example, the group III-Ncompound materials system. Examples of the group III elements caninclude Ga, In, or Al, which can be formed from exemplary group IIIprecursors, such as trimethylgallium (TMGa) or triethylgallium (TEGa),trimethylindium (TMIn) or trimethylaluminum (TMAI). Exemplary Nprecursors can be, for example, ammonia (NH₃). Other group V elementscan also be used, for example, P or As, with exemplary group Vprecursors, such as tertiarybutylphoshine (TBP), or arsine (AsH₃).

In the following description, group III-N semiconductor alloycompositions can be described by the combination of group III-Nelements, such as, for example, GaN, AlN, InN, InGaN, AlGaN, or AlInGaN.Generally, the elements in a composition can be combined with variousmolar fractions. For example, the semiconductor alloy composition InGaNcan stand for In_(x)Ga_(1-x)N, where the molar fraction, x, can be anynumber less than 1.00. In addition, depending on the molar fractionvalue, various active devices can be made by similar compositions. Forexample, an In_(0.3)Ga_(0.7)N (where x is about 0.3) can be used in theMQW active region of LEDs for a blue light emission, while anIn_(0.43)Ga_(0.57)N (where x is about 0.43) can be used in the MQWactive region of LEDs for a green light emission.

In various embodiments, the nanowires, nanowire arrays, and/or thenanowire active devices can include a dopant from a group consisting of;a p-type dopant from Group II of the periodic table, for example, Mg,Zn, Cd and Hg; a p-type dopant from Group IV of the periodic table, forexample, C; or an n-type dopant selected from a group consisting of: Si,Ge, Sn, S, Se and Te.

In various embodiments, the nanowires and/or nanowire arrays as well asthe nanowire active devices can have high-quality heterogeneousstructures and be formed by various crystal growth techniques including,but not limited to, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)(also known as organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE)),molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), gas source MBE (GSMBE), metal-organic MBE(MOMBE), atomic layer epitaxy (ALE), or hydride vapor phase epitaxy(HVPE).

In various embodiments, a multiple-phase growth mode, for example, atwo-phase growth mode, can be used for the high-quality crystal growthof nanowires and/or nanowire arrays as well as nanowire active devices.For example, a first phase growth mode such as a selective growth modecan be used to provide a condition for growth selectivity and nucleationof the nanowires and/or nanowire arrays. In the selective growth mode,standard crystal growth methods, for example, standard MOCVD, can beused to nucleate the growth of the nanowires with a desired thicknessof, for example, about 10 nm or more.

The second phase growth mode can create a process to continue the growthof each nanowire and maintain its cross-sectional features from thefirst growth mode, and also provide an arbitrary desired length. Thesecond phase growth mode can be applied by a growth-mode-transition,which can terminate the first phase growth mode. In the second phasegrowth mode, a pulsed growth mode, for example, a pulsed MOCVD growth,can be used.

As used herein, the term “pulsed growth mode” refers to a process inwhich the group III and group V precursor gases are introducedalternately in a crystal growth reactor with a designed sequence. Forexample, TMGa and NH₃ can be used as the precursors for an exemplaryformation of GaN nanowires and/or nanowire arrays and/or GaN nanowireactive devices. In the pulsed growth mode, TMGa and NH₃ can beintroduced alternately in a sequence that introduces TMGa with adesigned flow rate (e.g., about 10 sccm) for a certain period of time(e.g., about 20 seconds) followed by introducing NH₃ with a designedflow rate (e.g., about 1500 sccm) for a time period (e.g., about 30seconds). In various embodiments, one or more sequence loops can beconducted (e.g., repeated) for a designed length of each nanowire. Invarious embodiments, the growth rate of each nanowire can be orientationdependent.

In various embodiments, dielectric materials can be involved information of the disclosed nanowires, nanowire arrays, and/or nanowireactive devices. For example, the selective growth mask can be made ofdielectric materials during the formation of the plurality of nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays. In another example, dielectric materials can beused for electrical isolation for active devices such as nanowire LEDsand/or nanowire lasers. As used herein, the dielectric materials caninclude, but are not limited to, silicon dioxide (SiO₂), silicon nitride(Si₃N₄), silicon oxynitride (SiON), fluorinated silicon dioxide (SiOF),silicon oxycarbide (SiOC), hafnium oxide (HfO₂), hafnium-silicate(HfSiO), nitride hafnium-silicate (HfSiON), zirconium oxide (ZrO₂),aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), barium strontium titanate (BST), lead zirconatetitanate (PZT), zirconium silicate (ZrSiO₂), tantalum oxide (TaO₂) orother insulating materials. According to various other embodiments, aconducting metal growth mask, such as, for example, tungsten can be usedfor selective growth of the disclosed nanowires.

Exemplary embodiments for semiconductor devices of nanowires and/ornanowire arrays and their scaleable processes for growth are shown inFIGS. 1A-1C, FIGS. 2-3, FIGS. 4A-4C, FIG. 5, and FIGS. 6A-6D.

FIGS. 1A-1C depict cross-sectional views of an exemplary semiconductornanowire device 100 at various stages of fabrication in accordance withthe present teachings. It should be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art that the nanowire device 100 depicted in FIGS. 1A-1Crepresents a generalized schematic illustration and that otherlayers/nanowires may be added or existing layers/nanowires may beremoved or modified.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the nanowire device 100 can include a substrate110, a selective growth mask 135, and a plurality of patterned apertures138. The selective growth mask 135 and the plurality of patternedapertures 138 can be disposed over the substrate 110, wherein theplurality of patterned apertures 138 can be interspersed through theselective growth mask 135.

The substrate 110 can be any substrate on which a group III-N materialcan be grown. In various embodiments, the substrate 110 can include, butis not limited to, sapphire, silicon carbide, silicon,silicon-on-insulator (SOI), III-V semiconductor compounds such as GaN orGaAs, metals, ceramics or glass.

The selective growth mask 135 can be formed by patterning and etching adielectric layer (not shown) formed over the substrate 110. In variousembodiments, the dielectric layer can be made of any dielectric materialand formed using techniques known to one of ordinary skill in the art.The dielectric layer can then be patterned using one or more ofinterferometric lithography (IL) including immersion interferometriclithography and nonlinear interferometric lithography, nanoimprintlithography (NL), and e-beam lithography, which can producenanostructures or patterns of nanostructures over wide and macroscopicareas. After the patterning, an etching process, for example, a reactiveion etching, can be used to form the plurality of patterned apertures138. The etching process can be stopped at the surface of the underlyinglayer, i.e., the substrate 110, and exposing a plurality of surfaceportions 139 of the substrate 110. In various embodiments, the selectivegrowth mask 135 can be a conducting metal growth mask made of, forexample, tungsten, to provide selective growth as desired for pulsednanowire growth.

The plurality of patterned apertures 138 can have a thickness the sameas the selective growth mask 135, for example, about 30 nm or less, anda cross-sectional dimension, such as a diameter, of about 10 nm to about1000 nm. As an additional example, the diameter can be about 10 to about100 nm. In an exemplary embodiment, the plurality of patterned apertures138 can have a hexagonal array with a pitch (i.e., center-to-centerspacing between any two adjacent patterned apertures) ranging from about50 nm to about 10 μm. In various embodiments, arrays of the plurality ofpatterned apertures 138 can be formed. Thereafter, the nanoscalefeatures of the plurality of the patterned apertures 138 can betransferred to the subsequent processes for the formation of nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays.

In various embodiments, various cleaning procedures can be conducted onthe device 100 shown in FIG. 1A prior to the subsequent growth of thenanowires and/or nanowire arrays. For example, the cleaning processescan include an ex-situ cleaning (i.e., the cleaning is conducted outsidethe growth reactor) followed by an in-situ cleaning (i.e., the cleaningis conducted within the growth reactor). Depending on materials used forthe selective growth mask 135, various cleaning methods can be used. Inan exemplary embodiment, a silicon nitride selective growth mask can becleaned by a standard ex-situ cleaning followed by an in-situ cleaningby loading the device 100 into an exemplary MOCVD reactor and heatingthe device 100 to about 950° C. for approximately 3 minutes underflowing hydrogen. This hydrogen-reducing-atmosphere can removeundesirable native oxides on the surfaces of the device 100. Dependingon the material combination of the substrate 110 and selective growthmask 135, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand thatalternative cleaning procedures can be used.

In FIG. 1B, a plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 can be selectivelygrown from the exposed plurality of surface portions 139 of thesubstrate 110 to fill each of the plurality of patterned apertures 138,which can be defined by the selective growth mask 135. The selectivegrowth mask 135 can serve as a selective growth mold to negativelyreplicate its nanopatterns from the plurality of patterned apertures 138to the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140. In this manner, theposition and the cross-sectional features, such as the shape anddimensions, of each of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 can bedetermined by that of each patterned aperture of the plurality ofpatterned apertures 138. For example, the plurality of patternedapertures 138 can include a hexagonal array with a dimension of about250 nm. The hexagonal array can then be transferred to the growth of theplurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 with a similar or smallerdimension of about 250 nm or less. In another example, if the one ormore apertures of the plurality of patterned apertures 138 areapproximately circular with an exemplary diameter of about 100 nm, oneor more nuclei of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 can be grownin the circular apertures with a similar diameter of about 100 nm orless. Thus, the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 can be positionedin a well-defined location and shaped correspondingly to the pluralityof the patterned apertures 138 defined by the selective growth mask 135.In various embodiments, the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 can beformed by, for example, a standard MOCVD process.

In this manner, the device 100 shown in FIG. 1B can be used as a supportfor nanowires and/or nanowire arrays, which can include a plurality ofselected surface regions (i.e., each surface of the plurality ofnanostructure nuclei 140). A plurality of nanowires and/or nanowirearrays can then be grown from the plurality of selected surface regions.In various embodiments, the selective growth mask 135 can be removed bya suitable etching process to expose the plurality of nanostructurenuclei 140 after the formation of the plurality of the nanowires.

In FIG. 1C, a plurality of nanowires 145 can be formed by continuing thegrowth of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 by, for example,terminating the selective growth mode and applying a pulsed growth mode,before the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 protrudes from a top ofthe selective growth mask 135. The plurality of nanowires 145 can beformed of the same material of the nanostructure nuclei 140, forexample, GaN, AlN, InN, InGaN, AlInGaN, or AlGaN. In variousembodiments, heterostructures can be formed form each of the pluralityof nanowires 145. In various embodiments, n-type and/or p-type dopantscan be incorporated into the plurality of nanowires 145 depending on thedesired application.

By transitioning to the pulsed growth mode before growth of theplurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 protrudes from the top of theselective growth mask 135, features such as cross-sectional shape anddimensions of each of the plurality of nanowires 145 can be preserveduntil a desired length is reached. In other words, the cross-sectionalfeatures of the nanowires 145, such as shape and/or dimension, canremain substantially constant, the same or similar as that of theapertures 138. In various embodiments, the length of each nanowire canbe on an order of micrometers, for example, about 20 μm or more.

In various embodiments, a buffer layer can be formed in the nanowiredevices. FIG. 2 depicts a second exemplary semiconductor nanowire device200 including a buffer layer in accordance with the present teachings.As shown, the nanowire device 200 can include a buffer layer 220disposed between a substrate such as the substrate 110 and a selectivegrowth mask such as the selective growth mask 135 (see FIGS. 1A-1C). Invarious embodiments, the buffer layer 220 can be a planar semiconductorfilm formed of, for example, GaN, AlN, InN, InGaN, AlInGaN or AlGaN, by,for example, standard MOCVD. In various embodiments, the thickness ofthe buffer layer 220 can be, for example, about 100 nm to about 10 μm.In various embodiments, the buffer layer 220 can be doped with either ann-type or a p-type dopant in order to provide an electrical connectionto the lower end of each nanowire of the plurality of nanowires 140.Various dopants known to one of ordinary skill in the art can be used.

In various embodiments, the orientation of the plurality ofnanostructure nuclei 140 can be controlled along a single direction,which can in turn be controlled by intentionally orienting the pluralityof patterned apertures 138 along the single crystal direction. Forexample, the plurality of patterned apertures 138 can be intentionallyoriented along a single direction of the buffer layer 220 as shown inFIG. 2. In an exemplary embodiment during IL patterning, the aperturesin the selective growth mask 135 can be intentionally oriented along the<1 100> direction of a GaN buffer layer. In another exemplary embodimentwhen the GaN buffer layer is grown on a sapphire substrate, there can bea 30° rotation about the c axis between the GaN buffer layer and thesapphire unit cells.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary process for forming a plurality of nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays using the two-phase growth mode in accordancewith the present teachings. Specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates precursorgas flow curves (including a first gas flow curve 302 and a second gasflow curve 306) during a selective growth 310 and a subsequent pulsedgrowth 320 for the formation of, for example, the plurality of nanowires145 as described in FIGS. 1-2. As shown, the selective growth 310 can beterminated by starting a pulsed growth 320 (i.e.,growth-mode-transition) at a transition time t₁. The pulsed growth 320can further include a number of pulsed sequences, for example, a firstsequence loop 324, a second sequence loop 328 and/or additional sequenceloops. In various embodiments, the first sequence loop 324 can berepeated as the second sequence loop 328.

In an exemplary embodiment for the formation of GaN nanowires and/ornanowire arrays, the first gas flow curve 302 can be plotted for a firstprecursor gas such as trimethylgallium (TMGa), and the second gas flowcurve 306 can be plotted for a second precursor gas such as ammonia(NH₃). During the selective growth 310, the exemplary GaN nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays can be formed in a MOCVD reactor including thefirst precursor gas TMGa with a constant flow rate of about 10 sccm, andthe second precursor gas NH₃ with a constant flow rate of about 1500sccm. That means, during the selective growth 310, the precursor gases(i.e., TMGa and NH₃) can be flowed continuously, not pulsed (i.e., bothGroup III and Group V precursor gases are provided to the substratetogether in a continuous, non-pulsed growth mode). Moreover, the group Vprecursor gas (e.g., TMGa) and group III precursor gas (e.g. NH₃) can beintroduced simultaneously and the group V/group III ratio can bemaintained, for example, at about 100 to about 500. In an exemplaryembodiment, the group V/group III ratio can be maintained at about 150.Further, other reactor conditions for the selective growth 310 caninclude, for example, an initial reaction temperature of about 1015° C.to about 1060° C., a reactor pressure of about 100 Torr, and ahydrogen/nitrogen carrier gas mixture having a laminar flow of about4000 sccm. Any suitable MOCVD reactor may be used, such as the VeecoTurboDisk model P75 MOCVD reactor in which the substrates are rotated ata high speed during deposition.

During pulsed growth 320, the first precursor gas such as TMGa and thesecond precursor gas such as NH₃ can be introduced alternately into thegrowth reactor in a designed sequence, for example, shown as the firstsequence loop 324. In various embodiments, the duration of eachalternating step within the pulsed sequence can affect the growth of thenanowires and/or nanowire arrays, which can further be optimized forspecific reactor geometries. For example, in the first pulsed sequenceloop 324, TMGa can be introduced with a flow rate of about 10 sccm for acertain period of time such as about 20 seconds (not illustrated)followed by, for example, a 10 second carrier-gas purge (e.g., a mixtureof hydrogen/nitrogen ) during which no precursor gases are introduced,and followed by introducing NH₃ with a flow rate of about 1500 sccm fora time period such as about 30 seconds (not illustrated) followed by,for example, a 10 second carrier-gas purge (e.g., a mixture ofhydrogen/nitrogen ) with no precursor gases involved. Other pulsedurations may also be used depending on the reactor configurations, suchas for example 15-40 seconds for the Group III reactant, 15-40 secondsfor the Group V reactant and 5-15 seconds for the purge gases betweeneach reactant introduction step. In various embodiments, the pulsedsequence such as the first sequence loop 324 can be repeated until acertain length of the GaN nanowires is reached. For example, thesequence loop 324 can be repeated as the second sequence loop 328, thethird sequence loop (not illustrated) and so on. In each sequence loop,the group V precursor gas (e.g., TMGa) and group III precursor gas (e.g.NH₃) can have an effective V/III ratio in a range of, for example, fromabout 60 to about 300. In various embodiments, the temperature, reactorpressure, and carrier gas flow for the pulsed growth 320 can remain attheir same settings as for the selective growth 310. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that the disclosed growth parametersare exemplary and can vary depending on the specific reactor used.

In various embodiments, the transition time (t₁) can be determined bythe duration of the selective growth 310. The transition time (t₁) canbe dependent on the growth rate inside each aperture, for example, eachof the plurality of patterned apertures 138 shown in FIGS. 1-2. Thegrowth rate inside each aperture can in turn depend on the gas flows(e.g., shown as gas flow curves 302 and 304) of each precursor gas andthe geometry of each aperture of the plurality of patterned apertures138. This geometrical dependence can occur because the growth nutrients,for example, from TMGa and/or NH₃, can be deposited both on theselective growth mask and in the open apertures. During selective growth310, the nutrient that deposits on the selective growth mask can have ahigh surface mobility and can either leave the mask surface or, if it isclose enough to an open aperture, diffuse to that aperture andcontribute to the growth rate in that aperture. This additional growthrate contribution can therefore vary based on the size of the aperturesand the distance between the apertures. In an exemplary embodiment forforming a plurality of GaN nanowires and/or nanowire arrays, thegrowth-mode-transition can occur after a 1 minute duration of theselective growth (i.e., t₁=1 minute), which can be experimentallydetermined by the GaN growth rate inside the patterned apertures. Forexample, the GaN growth rate can be about 0.6 μm/hr and the patternedapertures can be in the form of a hexagonal array having a diameter ofabout 200 nm and a pitch of about 1 μm.

In various embodiments, the growth of the plurality of nanowires and/ornanowire arrays can be affected by when the growth-mode-transition isapplied. For example, the growth-mode-transition can be applied aftergrowth of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 protrude over thetop of the selective growth mask (such as 135 seen in FIGS. 1-2). Invarious embodiments, different configurations/dimensions can be obtainedfor the nanowires and/or nanowire arrays, depending on whether thegrowth-mode-transition is applied “before” (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-2)or “after” the nanowire nuclei have grown to protrude over the top ofthe selective growth mask.

FIGS. 4A-4C depict a third exemplary semiconductor nanowire device 400formed by having a growth-mode-transition “after” the nanowire nucleihave grown to protrude over the top of the selective growth mask. Itshould be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that thenanowire device 400 depicted in FIGS. 4A-4C represents a generalizedschematic illustration and that other layers/nanowires can be added orexisting layers/nanowires can be removed or modified.

In FIG. 4A, the device 400 can include a similar structure and be formedby a similar fabrication process as described in FIG. 1C for the device100. As shown, the device 400 can include a substrate 410, a selectivegrowth mask 435 and a plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440. Theselective growth mask 435 and the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440can be formed over the substrate 410, wherein the plurality ofnanostructure nuclei 440 can be interspersed through the selectivegrowth mask 435. The substrate 410 can be any substrate similar to thesubstrate 110 of the device 100, on which a group III-N material can begrown. The substrate 410 can be, for example, sapphire, silicon carbide,or silicon. Likewise, the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440 can beformed similarly to that of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 140 ofthe device 100 shown in FIG. 1B. For example, the plurality ofnanostructure nuclei 440 can be formed by first forming a plurality ofpatterned apertures (not shown) defined by the selective growth mask 435over the substrate 410. Each of the plurality of patterned apertures canthen be filled by growing a semiconductor material (e.g., GaN) thereinusing, for example, standard MOCVD. The plurality of nanostructurenuclei 440 can have a thickness of the selective growth mask 435, forexample, about 30 nm, and a cross-sectional dimension, such as a widthor a diameter, of, for example, about 10 nm to about 200 nm. And as anadditional example, the width or diameter of the cross-sectionaldimension can be about 10 nm to about 100 nm.

In FIG. 4B, the device 400 can include a plurality of nanostructures 442grown laterally as well as vertically from the plurality ofnanostructure nuclei 440, when the growth-mode-transition occurs “after”the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440 protrudes over the top of theselective growth mask 435. For example, each of the plurality ofnanostructures 442 can be grown laterally, spreading sideways, andpartially on the surface of the selective growth mask 435. In variousembodiments, the plurality of nanostructures 442 can include apyramid-shaped structure providing a top crystal facet. For example, aplurality of GaN pyramid-shaped nanostructures can include a (0001) topfacet and the dimensions of this top facet can be controlled by theextent of the growth of each nanostructure. Specifically, at the earlystage of the growth, when the plurality of nanostructures 442 is growinglaterally and partially on the surface of the selective growth mask 435,the top facet dimensions can be increased and be broader than thecross-sectional dimensions of the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440.When the growth is continued, the top facet dimensions can be decreasedsuch that a point of the top facet dimensions can be smaller than thatof the plurality of nanostructure nuclei 440. Therefore, the dimensionsof each pyramid top facet can be controlled by, for example, atermination of the selective growth mode (i.e., to apply thegrowth-mode-transition) to stop the growth of the plurality ofpyramid-shaped nanostructures. In various embodiments, the exemplarypyramid-shaped top facets can be truncated and the dimension of eachtruncated top facet can then be maintained for the subsequent growth ofthe nanowires and/or nanowire arrays using the pulsed growth mode. Invarious embodiments, the truncated top facet diameter of each of theplurality of nanostructures 442 can be controlled to be smaller thanthat of each of the plurality of the nanostructure nuclei 440. Invarious embodiments, the top facet of each of the plurality ofnanostructures 442 can have an exemplary cross-sectional shape of, forexample, a square, a polygon, a rectangle, an oval, and a circle.

The device 400 shown in FIG. 4B can be used as a support of nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays, which can also include a plurality of selectedsurface regions (i.e., the surface of each top facet of the plurality ofnanostructures 442). A plurality of nanowires and/or nanowire arrays canthen be grown from the plurality of selected surface regions andmaintain the cross-sectional features (e.g., dimensions and shapes) ofeach of the plurality of selected surface regions.

In FIG. 4C, a plurality of nanowires 445 can be formed by continuing thegrowth of the semiconductor material (e.g., GaN) from the plurality ofselected surface regions of the device 400 (i.e., from each top facet ofthe plurality of nanostructures 442) using the pulsed growth mode. As aresult, the plurality of nanowires 445 can be regularly spaced and havean exemplary diameter ranging from about 20 to about 500 nm, and anexemplary cross-sectional shape of, for example, a square, a polygon, arectangle, an oval, and a circle.

By using the pulsed growth mode “after” the semiconductor material isgrown to protrude over the top of the selective growth mask 435, theplurality of nanowires 445 can be formed on the top facets of theexemplary pyramid-shaped structures of the plurality of nanostructures442. Features such as cross-sectional shapes and dimensions of each ofthe plurality of nanowires 445 can remain constant with that of thetruncated top facets until a desired length is reached. In variousembodiments, the length of each nanowire can be controlled on an orderof micrometers, such as, for example, about 20 μm or higher.

FIG. 5 depicts another exemplary semiconductor nanowire device 500including a buffer layer in accordance with the present teachings. Asshown, the nanowire device 500 can include a buffer layer 520 disposedbetween a substrate, such as the substrate 410, and a selective growthmask, such as the selective growth mask 435. The buffer layer 520 can bea similar layer to the buffer layer 220 shown in FIG. 2. The bufferlayer 520 can be a planar film formed of, for example, GaN, AlN, InN orAlGaN, using, for example, standard MOCVD. In various embodiments, thethickness of the buffer layer 520 can be about 100 nm to about 10 μm. Invarious embodiments, the buffer layer 520 can be doped with either ann-type or a p-type dopant in order to provide an electrical connectionto the lower end of each nanowire.

FIGS. 6A-6D depict exemplary results for a plurality of ordered GaNnanowires and/or nanowire arrays grown by the multiple-phase growth modewithout use of a catalyst in accordance with the present teachings (boththe nanostructure nuclei 140, 440 and the nanowires 145, 445 are grownwithout the use of a metal catalyst deposited on the substrate). Asshown in FIGS. 6A-6D, the plurality of GaN nanowires 610 can grow withlarge scale uniformity of position, orientation, length, cross-sectionalfeatures (e.g., the dimensions and/or shapes), and crystallinity. Asdescribed herein, in some embodiments, the position and dimensions ofeach nanowire can correspond with that of each aperture of the pluralityof patterned apertures 138 shown in FIGS. 1-2. In other embodiments, theposition and dimensions of each nanowire can correspond with that ofeach top facet of the plurality of nanostructures 442 shown in FIGS.4-5.

FIG. 6A shows a close-up scanning electron micrograph (SEM) result forthe exemplary GaN nanowires 610, while FIG. 6B shows a SEM result withlong-range order for the GaN nanowires 610. In various embodiments, eachGaN nanowire can have a single crystal nature.

FIG. 6C shows that the orientation of the GaN nanowires 610 can be alonga single crystal direction, for example, along the (0001)crystallographic direction of the exemplary GaN nanowires 610.Additionally, the small central (0001) top facet of each nanowire can bebounded by inclined {1 102} facets on top of each nanowire.

FIG. 6D is a plan view of the exemplary GaN nanowires 610 showing thehexagonal symmetry of the sidewall facets of each GaN nanowire. Thesidewall facets can be perpendicular to the direction of the selectivegrowth mask 620 having the sidewall facets of the {1 100} family. Invarious embodiments, the diameter of the exemplary GaN nanowires 610 canbe about 1000 nm or less.

The invariance of the lateral nanowire geometry (e.g., thecross-sectional features) shown in FIGS. 6A-6D indicates that the GaNgrowth rate can only occur in the vertical direction, that is, on the(0001) and {1 102} top facets. For example, the vertical growth ratesfor the plurality of GaN nanowires 610 of the pulsed growth can be, forexample, about 2 μm/hr or higher. On the other hand, the GaN growth rateon the {1 100} sidewall facets (i.e., lateral direction) can beessential negligible in spite of their much larger area. In an exemplaryembodiment, the GaN nanowires 610 can be grown having a uniform lengthof about 20 μm or higher and maintain a uniform diameter of about 250 nmor less, when a 30-nm-selective-growth-mask is used. In variousembodiments, the presence of hydrogen in the carrier gas mixture can beused to control the nanowire geometry.

In addition, the exemplary uniform GaN nanowires 610 shown in FIGS.6A-6D can be of high-quality, that is, with essentially no threadingdislocations (TD). For example, there can be no threading dislocationsobserved with the GaN nanowires 145 and/or 445 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.5, even if the threading dislocations can be observed in the GaN bufferlayer 220 and/or 520 underlying the selective growth mask 135 and/or435, since it is believed that these dislocations bend away from thenanowires and terminate at a surface beneath the growth mask.Furthermore, the defect-free GaN nanowires 610 can be grown on varioussubstrates, such as, for example, sapphire, silicon carbide such as6H-SiC, or silicon such as Si (111).

In various embodiments, the uniform and high-quality GaN nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays can be used for fabrication of high-quality GaNsubstrate structures. Commercially viable GaN substrates are desiredbecause GaN substrates can greatly facilitate the fabrication of visibleLEDs and lasers for the emerging solid-state lighting and UV sensorindustries. Moreover, GaN substrates can also be used in other relatedapplications, such as hi-power RF circuits and devices.

In various embodiments, GaN substrate structures can be formed byterminating and coalescing the plurality of GaN nanowires such as thosedescribed in FIGS. 1-6 using techniques such as nanoheteroepitaxy. FIGS.7A-7D depict four exemplary semiconductor devices including GaNsubstrate structures 712, 714, 715, and 717 formed from the plurality ofGaN nanowires of the device 100 (see FIG. 1C), the device 200 (see FIG.2), the device 400 (see FIG. 4C), and the device 500 (see FIG. 5),respectively.

For example, the GaN growth conditions can be modified to allowcoalescence of the formed plurality of nanowires (e.g., 145 or 445)after they have grown to a suitable height, and then formation of a GaNsubstrate structure (e.g., the substrate 712, 714, 715, or 717). The GaNsubstrate structure can be a continuous, epitaxial, and fully coalescedplanar film. The “suitable height” can be determined for each nanowire(e.g., GaN) and substrate (e.g., SiC or Si) combination and can be aheight that allows a significant reduction in defect density in theupper coalesced GaN film (i.e., the GaN substrate structure). Inaddition, the “suitable height” can be a height that can maintain amechanically-robust structure for the resulting semiconductor devices,for example, those shown in FIGS. 7A-7D. In various embodiments, becausethreading defects are not present in the plurality of GaN nanowires(e.g., 145 or 445), the coalescence of the GaN substrate structure(e.g., the substrate 712, 714, 715, or 717) on top of these pluralitiesof nanowires can then occur and provide the GaN substrate structurecontaining an extremely low defect density, such as, for example, about10⁷ cm⁻² or lower.

According to various embodiments of the nanowire formation process, theprocess steps, (e.g., the deposition, patterning and etching of theselective growth mask, the selective growth of nanowire nuclei, thepulsed growth of nanowires, and the formation of the exemplary GaNsubstrate structures) can be scaleable to large substrate areas. Theycan also be readily extended to manufacturing requirements includingautomatic wafer handling and extended to larger size wafers forestablishing efficacy of photonic crystals for light extraction fromvisible and near-UV LEDs.

FIGS. 8-12 depict exemplary embodiments for nanowire active devicesincluding nanowire LEDs and nanowire lasers, and their scalableprocesses for manufacturing. In various embodiments, the disclosed groupIII-N nanowires and nanowire arrays such as GaN nanowires and/ornanowire arrays can provide their active devices with unique properties.This is because each pulsed-grown GaN nanowire can have sidewalls of {1100} family and the normal to each of these side planes can be anonpolar direction for group III-N materials. High-quality quantum groupIII-N wells such as quantum InGaN/GaN wells, quantum AlGaN/GaN wells orother quantum III-N wells, can therefore be formed on these side facetsof each GaN nanowire.

For example, the nanowire growth behavior can be changed significantlywhen other precursor gases such as trimethylaluminum (Al) ortrimethylindium (In) are added to the exemplary MOCVD gas phase duringthe pulsed growth mode. In this case, even a small molecular fraction(e.g., about 1%) of Al or In added to the GaN nanowires and/or nanowirearrays can result in each GaN nanowire growing laterally with itscross-sectional dimensions (e.g., width or diameter) increasing overtime. This lateral growth behavior can allow creation of a core-shellheterostructure, that is, quantum wells including exemplary materials ofsuch as InGaN and AlGaN alloys can be grown on and envelop each GaNnanowire core. As a result, the core-shell growth can create acore-shell nanowire/MQW active structure for light emitting devices.

In various embodiments, an additional third growth condition can beestablished to grow the core-shell of the exemplary InGaN and AlGaNalloys, after the GaN nanowire has been grown using the disclosedtwo-phase growth mode. This third growth mode can be a continuous growthsimilar to that used in the selective growth mode, for example, as shownat 310 in FIG. 3. In various other embodiments, a pulsed growth mode canbe used for the third growth condition.

In various embodiments, the core-shell nanowire/MQW active structure canbe used to provide high efficiency nanoscale optoelectronic devices,such as, for example, nanowire LEDs and/or nanowire lasers. For example,the resulting core-shell nanowire/MQW active structure (i.e., having theMQW active shell on sidewalls of each nanowire core) can be free frompiezoelectric fields, and also free from the associated quantum-confinedStark effect (QCSE) because each nanowire core has non-polar sidewalls.The elimination of the QCSE can increase the radiative recombinationefficiency in the active region to improve the performance of the LEDsand lasers. Additionally, the absence of QCSE can allow wider quantumwells to be used, which can improve the overlap integral and cavity gainof the nanowire based lasers. A further exemplary efficiency benefit ofusing the core-shell nanowire/MQW active structure is that the activeregion area can be significant increased because of the uniquecore-shell structure.

FIG. 8 depicts a cross-sectional layered structure of an exemplarycore-shell nanowire/MQW active structure device 800 in accordance withthe present teachings. It should be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art that the device 800 depicted in FIG. 8 represents ageneralized schematic illustration and that othermaterials/layers/shells can be added or existing materials/layers/shellscan be removed or modified.

As shown, the device 800 can include a substrate 810, a doped bufferlayer 820, a selective growth mask 825, a doped nanowire core 830, and ashell structure 835 including a first doped shell 840, a MQW shellstructure 850, a second doped shell 860, and a third doped shell 870.

The selective growth mask 825 can be formed over the doped buffer layer820 over the substrate 810. The doped nanowire core 830 can be connectedto and extend from the doped buffer layer 820 through the selectivegrowth mask 825, wherein the doped nanowire core 830 can be isolated bythe selective growth mask 825. The shell structure 835 can be formed to“shell” the doped nanowire core 830 having a core-shell activestructure, and the shell structure 835 can also be situated on theselective growth mask 825. In addition, the shell structure 835 can beformed by depositing the third doped shell 870 over the second dopedshell 860, which can be formed over the MQW shell structure 850 over afirst doped shell 840.

The substrate 810 can be a substrate similar to the substrates 110 and410 (see FIGS. 1-2 and FIGS. 4-5) including, but not limited to,sapphire, silicon carbide, silicon and III-V substrates such as GaAs, orGaN.

The doped buffer layer 820 can be formed over the substrate 810. Thedoped buffer layer 820 can be similar to the buffer layers 220 and/or520 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 5). The doped buffer layer 820 can be formedof, for example, GaN, AlN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN or AlInGaN, by variouscrystal growth methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Invarious embodiments, the doped buffer layer 820 can be doped with aconductivity type similar to the doped nanowire core 830. In someembodiments, the doped buffer layer 820 can be removed from the device800.

The selective growth mask 825 can be a selective growth mask similar tothe selective growth masks 135 and/or 435 (see FIGS. 1-2 and FIGS. 4-5)formed on the buffer layer 820. In various embodiments, the selectivegrowth mask 825 can be formed directly on the substrate 810. Theselective growth mask 825 can define the selective growth of theplurality of nanowires and/or nanowire arrays. The selective growth mask825 can be formed of any dielectric material, or other growth maskmaterial known to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The doped nanowire core 830 can use any nanowire of the plurality ofnanowires shown in FIGS. 1-2 and FIGS. 4-7 formed using the two-phasegrowth mode. The doped nanowire core 830 can be formed of, for example,GaN, AlN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN or AlInGaN, which can be made an n-type bydoping with various impurities such as silicon, germanium, selenium,sulfur and tellurium. In various embodiments, the doped nanowire core830 can be made p-type by introducing beryllium, strontium, barium,zinc, or magnesium. Other dopants known to one of ordinary skill in theart can be used. In various embodiments, the height of the dopednanowire core 830 can define the approximate height of the activestructure device 800. For example, the doped nanowire core 830 can havea height of about 1 μm to about 1000 μm.

The doped nanowire core 830 can have non-polar sidewall facets of {1100} family (i.e., “m”-plane facets), when the material GaN is used forthe doped nanowire core 830. The shell structure 835 including the MQWshell structure 850 can be grown by core-shell growth on these facetsand the device 800 can therefore be free from piezoelectric fields, andfree from the associated quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE).

The first doped shell 840 can be formed from and coated on the non-polarsidewall facets of the doped nanowire core 830 by an exemplarycore-shell growth, when the pulsed growth mode is used. For example, thefirst doped shell 840 can be formed by adding a small amount of Alduring the pulsed growth of the doped nanowire core 830 forming acore-shell heterostructure. The conductivity type of the first dopedshell 840 and the doped nanowire core 830 can be made similar, forexample, n-type. In various embodiments, the first doped shell 840 caninclude a material of Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N, where x can be any number lessthan 1.00 such as 0.05 or 0.10.

The MQW shell structure 850 can be formed on the first doped shell 840by the exemplary core-shell growth, when the pulsed growth mode is used.Specifically, the MQW shell structure 850 can be formed by adding asmall amount of Al and/or In during the pulsed growth of the first dopedshell 840 to continue the formation of the core-shell heterostructure.In various embodiments, the MQW shell structure 850 can include, forexample, alternating layers of Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N and GaN where x can be,for example, 0.05 or any other number less than 1.00. The MQW shellstructure 850 can also include alternating layers of, for example,In_(x)Ga_(1-x)N and GaN, where x can be any number less than 1.00, forexample, any number in a range from about 0.20 to about 0.45.

The second doped shell 860 can be formed on the MQW shell structure 850.The second doped shell 860 can be used as a barrier layer for the MQWshell structure 850 with a sufficient thickness of, such as, forexample, about 500 nm to about 2000 nm. The second doped shell 860 canbe formed of, for example, Al_(x)Ga_(1-x)N, where x can be any numberless than 1.00 such as 0.20 or 0.30. The second doped shell 860 can bedoped with a conductivity type similar to the third doped shell 870.

The third doped shell 870 can be formed by continuing the core-shellgrowth from the second doped shell 860 to cap the active structuredevice 800. The third doped shell 870 can be formed of, for example, GaNand doped to be an n-type or a p-type. In various embodiments, if thefirst doped shell 830 is an n-type shell, the second doped shell 860and/or the third doped shell 870 can be a p-type shell and vice versa.In various embodiments, the third doped shell 870 can have a thicknessof about 50 to about 500 nm.

In various embodiments, the core-shell active structure devices 800shown in FIG. 8 can be electrically isolated from each other, when anumber of devices 800 are included in a large area such as a wafer. FIG.9 depicts an active structure device 900 including a dielectric material910 deposited to isolate each core-shell nanowire/MQW active structureshown in FIG. 8 in accordance with the present teachings.

As shown in FIG. 9, the dielectric material 910 can be deposited on theselective growth mask 825 and laterally connected with the sidewalls ofthe shell structure 835, more specifically, the sidewalls of the thirddoped shell 870. In various embodiments, the dielectric material 910 canbe any dielectric material for electrical isolation, such as, forexample, silicon oxide (SiO₂), silicon nitride (Si₃N₄), siliconoxynitride (SiON), or other insulating materials. In some embodiments,the dielectric material 910 can be a curable dielectric. The dielectricmaterial 910 can be formed by, for example, chemical vapor deposition(CVD) or spin-on techniques, with a desired height or thickness. Invarious embodiments, the height/thickness of the dielectric material 910can be further adjusted by removing a portion of the dielectric materialfrom the top of the deposited dielectric material using, for example,etching or lift-off procedures known to one of ordinary skill in theart. The thickness of the dielectric material 910 can be adjusteddepending on specific applications where the core-shell nanowire/MQWactive structure is used.

In various embodiments, various nanowire LEDs and nanowire lasers can beformed by the core-shell growth described in FIGS. 8-9, because MQWactive shell structures can be created on the nonpolar sidewalls of thepulsed-grown nanowires. For example, if the nanowires are arranged in ahexagonal array with a pitch that is equal to λ/2, where λ is theemission wavelength of the exemplary LED or laser, the array ofnanowires can provide optical feedback to stimulate light-emittingaction. FIGS. 10-12 depict exemplary nanoscale active devices formedbased on the structures shown in FIGS. 8-9 in accordance with thepresent teachings.

FIGS. 10A-10C depict an exemplary nanowire LED device 1000 using thecore-shell nanowire/MQW active structure described in FIGS. 8-9 inaccordance with the present teachings.

In various embodiments, the nanowire LED device 1000 can be fabricatedincluding electrical contacts formed on, for example, the device 900.The electrical contacts can include conductive structures formed frommetals such as titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni)or gold (Au) in a number of multi-layered combinations such asAl/Ti/Pt/Au, Ni/Au, Ti/Al, Ti/Au, Ti/Al/Ti/Au, Ti/Al/Au, Al or Au usingtechniques known to one of ordinary skill in the art.

In FIG. 10A, the device 1000 can include a conductive structure 1040formed on the surface of the device 900, i.e., on each surface of thedielectric material 910 and the third doped shell 870 of the shellstructure 835. The conductive structure 1040 can be a transparent layerused for a p-electrode of the LED device 1000 fabricated subsequently.In an exemplary embodiment, the conductive structure 1040 (orp-electrode) can be, for example, a layered metal combination of Ti/Au.

In various embodiments, the device 1000 can further include a dielectriclayer 1010 having an adjusted thickness (or height). By adjusting thethickness of the dielectric layer 1010, the extent (e.g., thickness orheight) of the conductive structure 1040 (or p-electrode) formed on andalong the sidewall of the shell structure 835 can be adjusted accordingto the desired application of nanowire active device. For example, athick layer of the dielectric 1010 can confine the conductive structure1040 (or p-electrode) to the top of the core-shell structured activedevices, for example, for nanowire LEDs and/or nanowire lasers.Alternatively, an adjusted thin dielectric layer 1010 can allow theconductive structure 1040 (or p-electrode) to have a greater thicknessor height (i.e., an increased extent), which can reduce the resistanceof the active devices. In various embodiments, the greater thickness ofthe conductive structure 1040 (or p-electrode) can, however, be expectedto contribute loss to an active device such as a laser cavity. As knownto one of ordinary skill in the art, optimum performance of theconductive structure 1040 (or p-electrode) can be achieve by balancingthe reduction of resistance of the active devices with the expectedcavity loss.

In various embodiments, the thickness of the conductive structure 1040(or p-electrode) along the sidewalls of the shell structure 835 of theexemplary LED device 1000 can be in a range of about 1 μm to about 9 μmfor high efficiency performance. In various embodiments, the LED device1000 can have a total height of, for example, about 10 μm.

In FIG. 10B, the device 1000 can further include a p-electrode 1045, adielectric 1015, and a selective contact mask 1025 having trenches 1035etched into the selective growth mask 825 (see FIG. 10A).

The p-electrode 1045 and the underlying dielectric 1015 can be formed bypatterning and etching the conductive structure 1040 and the dielectriclayer 1010 (see FIG. 10A). As a result, portions (not shown) of surfaceof the selective growth mask 835 can be exposed and separated by thedielectric 1015 on both sides of each core-shell structure. After thepatterning and etching processes, a selective contact mask 1025 can beformed by forming trenches 1035 through the exposed portions of surfaceof the selective growth mask 825, wherein each side of the core-shellactive structure can include at least one trench 1035. As a result,surface portions of the underlying buffer layer 820 can be used asbottoms of the trenches 1035.

In various embodiments, the thickness of the selective contact mask 1025can be critical for the performance of the LED device 1000. For example,a silicon nitride selective growth mask having a thickness of 30 nm canbe sufficiently thick to support a voltage of about 20 Volts or higherbefore breakdown of the LED device 1000. In various embodiments, theselective contact mask 1025 can have a thickness of about 30 nm or less.However, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that a thickerselective growth mask can be readily accommodated in the nanowire andnanowire active device processes.

In FIG. 10C, the device 1000 can include the n-electrodes 1080 formed toassure the conduction between the n-side contact and the centralconductive region including the doped buffer layer 820 and the nanowirecore 830. The central conductive region can be, for example, a heavilydoped n⁺ GaN region. In various embodiments, the n-electrodes 1080 caninclude conductive structures formed by depositing electrode materialsonto each surface of the selective contact mask 1025 and the bottoms ofthe trenches 1035. In an exemplary embodiment, the n-electrodes 1080 canbe formed of, for example, a layered metal combination, such asAl/Ti/Pt/Au.

At 1099, the resulting light of the nanowire LED device 1000 in FIG. 10Ccan be extracted through the substrate 820, which can be transparent atgreen and blue wavelengths. In various embodiments, a more diffuse lightoutput can occur on the top side of the device 1000 (not shown) sincethe nanowire LED device 1000 can be small enough for sufficientdiffraction. This diffuse light output can be advantageous in somesolid-state lighting applications.

In this manner, the disclosed nanowire LED device 1000 can provideunique properties as compared with traditional LED devices. First, itcan have a higher brightness because the core-shell grown active regionarea (i.e., the MQW active shell area) can be increased, for example, bya factor of approximately 10 times compared to a conventional planar LEDstructure. Second, the light extraction can be improved to increase theoutput efficiency of the LED. This is because the LED device's geometrycan make the most of the active region area oriented normal to the wafersurface, i.e., the substrate surface. The confinement regions on eitherside of the MQW active region can tend to guide the LED light in thevertical direction. Third, because of the high precision of the positionand diameter of each of the plurality of nanowires and/or nanowirearrays, the resulting arrays of the LED devices 1000 can also beconfigured as a photonic-crystal, which can further improve the lightoutput coupling efficiency. Fourth, the nanowire LED resistance can besignificantly decreased because of the increase of the electricalcontact area, for example, the contact area of the p-electrode 1045.Finally, since the LED device 1000 can provide a specified light powerwith higher brightness, more devices can be processed on a given wafer,which can decrease the cost of production and also increase themanufacturing efficiency. For example, to allow for metal contacts, theLED device 1000 can include a pitch spacing (i.e., a center-to-centerspacing between any two adjacent nanowire devices) of, for example,about 100 μm. A 4-inch wafer can then include a number of nanowire LEDdevices 1000, for example, about 0.78 million devices or more, which canbe manufactured simultaneously. In various embodiments, the pitchspacing can be reduced further to allow a single 4-inch wafer tocontain, for example, more than one million LED devices 1000.

FIGS. 11-12 depict exemplary nanowire laser devices using the core-shellgrown nanowire/MQW active structure shown in FIGS. 8-10 in accordancewith the present teachings. Because the sidewall facets of the nanowiresand/or nanowire arrays are exact {1 100} facets with a flatness on thescale of an atomic monolayer, high quality MQW active regions for laserdevices can be formed on these superior flat “sidewall substrates.” Inaddition, the vertical orientation of the sidewall facets, and theuniform periodicity and length of the nanowires can provide ahigh-throughput method of etching or cleaving facets to form an opticalcavity. The uniform periodicity can allow a photonic crystal opticalcavity to be established straightforwardly.

As shown in FIG. 11, the nanowire laser device 1100 can be fabricatedfrom the processes described in FIGS. 8-10 using the core-shell grownnanowire/MQW active structure as laser active structure. The nanowirelaser device 1100 can include a polished shell structure 1135, apolished p-electrode 1145, and a passivation layer 1195, which can beformed on each surface of the polished shell structure 1135 and thepolished p-electrode 1145 to cap the laser active structure.

The polished shell structure 1135 and the polished p-electrode 1145 canbe formed by polishing (i.e., removing) on the top end (with respect tothe substrate 810 as the bottom end) of the core-shell nanowire/MQWactive structure (i.e., laser active structure) such as that shown inFIG. 10C. Various polishing processes, for example, achemical-mechanical polishing, can be used using the etched dielectric1015 as a mechanical support.

The polishing step can be used to polish a number of laser facets at thesame time without diminishing the manufacturability of the nanowirelaser devices 1100. For example, a number of nanowire laser devices 1100such as about 0.78 million or more, can be formed on a 4-inch wafer fora high manufacturing efficiency. In various embodiments, the pitchspacing can be reduced further to allow a single 4-inch wafer tocontain, for example, more than one million laser devices 1100.

In various embodiments, the extent (e.g., thickness or height) of thepolished p-electrode 1145 formed along the sidewalls of the polishedshell structure 1135 can be adjusted by adjusting thickness of theunderlying etched dielectric 1015 for optimum performance of the laserdevice 1100. In various embodiments, the thickness of the polishedp-electrode 1145 along the sidewall of the polished shell structure 1135shown in FIG. 11 can range from about 1 μm to about 5 μm, when theoverall height is about 10 μm.

The passivation layer 1195 can be formed at the polished top end of eachlaser active structure, i.e., on each surface of the polishedp-electrode 1145 and the polished shell structure 1135. The passivationlayer 1195 can be configured to avoid undue non-radiative recombinationor junction leakage of the nanowire laser device 1100. In variousembodiments, the passivation layer 1195 can be formed of, for example,any dielectric material known to one of ordinary skill in the art with athickness of about 10 to about 100 nm.

In some embodiments, the composition and refractive index of thematerials used for the polished shell structure 1135 surrounding thenanowire cavity (i.e., the nanowire core 830) can affect the opticallasing process at 1199. For example, when the nanowires have anexemplary diameter of about 200 nm, some of the optical lasing mode canexist outside the cavity. The laser can therefore be more sensitive tothe composition and refractive index of the materials surrounding thecavity, that is, materials used for each layer of the polished shellstructure 1135.

In other embodiments, because there is no physical lower facet on thelaser optical cavity (i.e., the nanowire core 830), there can be achange of effective refractive index in the vicinity of the selectivegrowth mask 1025. This index change can in fact be helped (i.e., madelarger) by the fact that some of the optical lasing mode can existoutside the cavity. In an exemplary embodiment, the nanowire laserdevice 4100 (see FIG. 11) can be optically tuned by adjusting thethickness of the selective contact mask 1025 for a maximum reflectivity.For example, the optical thickness of the selective contact mask 1025for the laser device 1100 can be in a range of about 220 nm to about 230nm when the device is emitting blue light at 450 nm.

FIG. 12 depicts another exemplary laser device 1200, in which adistributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror stack 1220 can be disposedbetween the layers of the substrate 810 and the selective growth mask1025, as opposed to the doped buffer layer 820 being disposed betweenthese two layers of the laser device 1100 shown in FIG. 11.

The DBR mirror stack 1220 can be an epitaxial DBR mirror stack. The DBRmirror stack 1220 can include, for example, quarter-wave alternatinglayers of, for example, GaN and AlGaN. In various embodiments, the DBRmirror stack 1220 can be tuned to improve reflectivity and to increasecavity Q of the laser 1299.

In various embodiments, all the nanowire active devices shown in FIGS.10-12 can provide a low device resistance because more resistivep-electrodes (e.g., the p-electrode 1045 and/or 1145) of theheterostructure can be located at the larger-area, which is outerperiphery of each core-shell nanowire/MQW active structure. For example,for the LED device 1000 (shown in FIG. 10), the p-electrode 1045 can bepatterned to completely cover the top of the device 1000 to furtherdecrease the device resistance.

Although a single nanowire is depicted in FIGS. 8-12 for the purpose ofdescription, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thecore-shell growth processes on each nanowire of the plurality ofnanowires and/or nanowire arrays (e.g., shown in FIGS. 1-6) fornanoscale active devices can be simultaneously conducted in a large area(e.g., a whole wafer).

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theinvention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the invention being indicated by the following claims.

1. A group III-N nanowire array comprising: a substrate; a selectivegrowth mask over the substrate, wherein the selective growth maskcomprises a plurality of patterned apertures that expose a plurality ofportions of the substrate; and a group III-N nanowire connected to andextending from each of the plurality of portions of the substrate,wherein the group III-N nanowire is oriented along a single directionand maintains a cross-sectional feature of one of the plurality ofselected surface regions, and wherein the group III-N nanowire extendsover a top of the selective growth mask.